The Hill reports this week that an early draft of former FBI Director Jim Comey’s memo accused Hillary Clinton of “gross negligence” in the handling of classified information in her use of a private server during her time as Secretary of State. It shouldn’t need to be said, but in light of the gentle handling of Clinton by the FBI in 2016, it bears mentioning that negligence in these types of cases is incontrovertibly criminal.
The federal statute in the Espionage Act, 18 United States Code 193 is very explicit about what it means for a government employee to be guilty of “gross negligence” in the handling of classified, secret or sensitive materials. The statute makes it plain that gross negligence in such cases constitutes a crime. That means, that for James Comey- acting as the head of the FBI- to put those words in writing means that he believes Hillary Clinton is guilty of a federal crime involving classified state secrets.
It does not mean that she is guilty but it does mean that Comey believed she was guilty when he wrote the original version of the memo.
The only part of the story that is even remotely controversial is the fact that her having placed these documents on a private server constitutes gross negligence. IT professionals, and the rules governing the ways such documents are to be treated, also make it clear that using a private server was, in fact, grossly negligent.
What we have here is a case where the only people who truly do not know what is going on is the media. It appears that as long as half of the public believes Hillary’s guilt is uncertain, the Clintons remain free. That is how it seems, as the law is so explicit- and the words of the former FBI director are also quite explicit.
What we have here is a material violation, the key to what should be Clinton’s prosecution, and the very substance of a tangible indictment. There is to be no doubt as to whether or not Clinton is guilty of a serious crime against the American people, and that she has placed national security at risk.
What is all but certain, is the possibility that she used the private server as a sort of pick-up point for foreign actors where these documents could be accessed in a way that Hillary herself could claim was not intentional.
Consider the following analogy. A financial manager stores his client’s financial documents on the patio, and when the documents are stolen he says he didn’t know the patio wasn’t a secure location to store such documents. Then, suppose that financial manager was to receive a large paycheck from the sort of person who would be likely to have an interest in those documents- like the client’s ex-wife, for example. In such a case, the financial manager would be investigated for gross negligence, fraud, money laundering, and probably much more.
What we have with this revelation concerning Comey’s memo is analogous to a situation where the client of that financial manager had explicitly told him not to store his documents on the patio. To put it plainly, federal law says that someone who does what Hillary Clinton did, is guilty of gross negligence- and Comey’s own memo supports it.
But after having written this, after Loretta Lynch had her infamous meeting on the tarmac with Bill Clinton, Comey changed the language of the memo from “gross negligence” to “extremely careless.” That’s a big change. “Extremely careless” is not part of the legal definition of a crime, but “gross negligence” is. The difference is about as big as the difference between a crime, and a “matter.”
Comey announced in July of 2016 that there would be no charges against Clinton. He did so after accusing her in writing, in an official memo, that she was guilty- very guilty. Nothing significant changed in the case against Clinton between the drafting of the original memo, and the time Comey announced that there would be no charges and no further investigation.
The change to the memo, however, is significant since the law is very explicit in its reference to gross negligence in the handling of secure documents. It says that such negligence can be punished with prison time and fines.
There can be no doubt that justice is not being served. The one question that should be answered is what did Bill Clinton say to Loretta Lynch in that parked airplane between the writing of the original memo and its revision. Because it clearly made all the difference for Hillary.
~ American Liberty Report
